Memories
by AnonymousBooklover55
Summary: Wally West has just ceased in the Arctic. He touched many lives in his life. These are the reactions and memories of people after learning of Wally's death.
1. Chapter 1: Artemis

**A/N: This is a repost of the first chapter, I realized that I had accidentally made the entire thing bold, and I noticed a few grammatical errors. Sorry this has taken so long to fix. I hope that you enjoy. To all newcomers to this story, welcome. Please let me know if there is a POV that you want to see, and I will add it to a list that I already have. Thanks for reading this, it always shocked me that I couldn't find another story like this. If there is, I would love to read it. I will NOT be bringing Wally back to life in this, despite how happy that would make me. I will be making a few vague allusions to my other story** ** _Fighting Blind_** **, I hope that you check it out. Reviews and criticism are welcome, I would love to know if there is anything I could do to add to this or improve my writing. Enjoy!**

Artemis

Artemis was in shock. He was gone, Wally was dead and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She didn't even get to say goodbye. She hadn't believed it until the Flash told her Wally's final words, "He loved you." Now they wouldn't ever get to go to Paris. She never told him how much she loved him, or how much it killed her to have to play a villain with Kaldur to keep him safe.

She could barely feel Megan's arms around her, holding her up. The only thing she could feel was the cold Arctic air, and the emptiness and the hole in her heart that could never be filled. They had just been reunited and had been hoping to go on a relaxing, romantic vacation when the Reach crisis was averted. Now they never would.

It was so hard to look at the Flash or Bart who were suffering just as much as she was. Barry, the Flash, had practically raised Wally after he had gotten his powers because Iris knew how to cook for a speedster and couldn't put that on Mary and Rudolph. Artemis knew that Barry saw Wally as a son, and Wally saw him as a second father, in fact the Allen house was practically Wally's second house, they even had a permanent room for Wally that he always had clothing and other necessities in.

When Artemis was finally able to stand on her own two feet, the looked over at Flash, and he scooped her up in her arms in response to her unanswered question, he carried her back to Central City with Bart following closely behind. He dropped her off at the West family house so that she could tell Mary and Rudolph the news they had been dreading since Wally gained his powers, that he had died saving the world. Barry went home to tell Iris that she would never see her nephew again, and Bart went to the Garrick house where he had been staying since he came to this time from the future, bearing the bad news.

When Artemis finally worked up the courage to knock on the door, Mary quickly answered. Artemis stood there crying, the tears hadn't stopped since Wally vanished, and could barely get the words out. "..." She couldn't do it, she couldn't say anything. As if seeing her distress, Mary hugged Artemis and Rudolph did the same. They could tell what she was going to say. Mary looked hesitant before quietly asking, "Is it Wally? Is he…," but she couldn't finish. "Yes," Artemis said softly, " He was trying to stop a Reach bomb that would have reversed the Earth's energy poles and would have torn the Earth apart. Barry and Bart weren't going to be able to do it on their own, so Wally stepped in. He was too slow, the energy that they were siphoning off used him as an exit valve and started to attack him, and Wally just vanished. he was torn apart into nothing but energy."

Artemis couldn't stop sobbing. Mary and Rudolph looked like they were in shock. They guided Artemis in and they all sat down. There was an air of tension and shock surrounding everyone. When Mary softly suggested that they try to get some sleep, they said nothing but went to bed. Artemis decided that she would stay on the couch because she couldn't stand to sleep in Wally's bedroom, and the guestroom was being renovated.

Artemis couldn't sleep for more than a handful of minutes at any given time, and she could hear the West's tossing and turning as they tried to sleep. When they came down in the morning, they all had bags under their eyes. they ate in silence, the silence broke when Artemis began to leave. "Artemis, he did love you. Don't hesitate to come back here whenever. Be it day or night. We'll get through this somehow," That was Rudolph who hardly ever spoke. Artemis just nodded and headed to the nearest Zeta tube so she could go back to Palo Alto.

When she got to the apartment she had shared with Wally, she didn't go past the living room. She couldn't bear to go any farther. She just sat down with their, _her_ , dog Brucely and just cried and cried. She hardly moved from that spot for days. Eventually she worked up the courage to go to the bedroom that she had shared with Wally, and slowly began to move his things into the closet, under the bed, in the dresser, anywhere out of sight.

After a few days, Dick Grayson and a few of her college friends show up to help her go through Wally's things. Her friends reveal that Dick told them about Wally, and they have a few others spreading the word to other people so that Artemis doesn't have to relive the pain by telling people over and over again that Wally died protecting her from the Reach drones. While going through Wally's things, Dick suddenly pulls Artemis aside and hands her a small box " I found it buried in his chemistry notes," he said softly and handed the velvet box to Artemis. Artemis hesitantly opens the box and begins to sob uncontrollably. Startled, Dick looks into the box and seeing the elegant silver ring with an emerald set into it, softly gasped with realization. He pulled the others aside and quietly tells "Artemis found a ring," when they gasp in realization, he continued "I know that they had been talking about going to Paris, I think he was going to propose then."

Artemis wash over her as she thought about what might have been. Wally had talked about them going to Paris and was probably planning to propose to her there. She thought about how she had wanted to return to the hero gig after graduation, and do smaller missions so that she and Wally could have the careers they dreamed of. She was still going to become a social worker because she didn't want anyone else to be mistreated by their parents like she had been. And Wally, well Wally wanted to become a forensic scientist and work with the police to help save people while both in and out of costume.

They never planned on staying out of the hero gig forever, and Artemis wasn't. She just wouldn't return as the archer Artemis, she would give Tigress a chance to be a hero. After her friends left, Artemis told Dick her plan, "Hey, Dick. I think I want to get back into the hero gig. Wally and I never planned on our retirement being permanent, we just wanted to get through college so that we could do good, civilian work by day, and be heroes at night. I want to go back to being a full time hero, but not as Artemis. Do you think Tigress is capable of becoming a hero?" Dick looked shocked but quickly recovered, "If that's what you want. I think you have a good idea. Just give it some time before you dive back in. start off slow. See you later." Dick turned and left, going back to Bludhaven to deal with the aftermath.

Artemis thought long and hard about her decision and decided that, yes, Tigress would make a good hero. She had to do that to honor Wally's memory. She could hardly remember either of his funerals, one for Wally West, and the other for the First Kid Flash that was held in Central City in which the city honored his sacrifice by adding on a wing to the Flash museum that was devoted to the first Kid Flash who died to save everyone.

When she saw Bart in the Kid Flash costume, it hurt, but she knew it was what Wally had wanted. He had told her in private that he had wanted to re enter the hero world as a new hero as he had outgrown the mantle of Kid Flash.

Years had passed by now, and a lot had changed, but a lot remained the same. Tigress became a hero in her own right and had gained the approval of many people and was often seen protecting Queen Perdita of Vlatava, because Artemis knew what Wally had gone through to give the queen the heart she so desperately needed all those years ago. Artemis was now a social worker in Gotham who part timed as a secretary at a law firm in a nearby city. She never married, or moved on. Wally was her first and only love. She kept the picture that someone had taken of her and Wally kissing on that fateful New Year's Eve all those years ago. She never forgot the bright smile or the laugh that could brighten any day. She never let go of her memories of Wally West.


	2. Chapter 2: Barry

**Disclaimer I DON'T OWN YOUNG JUSTICE, if I did, Wally wouldn't have died.**

Barry:

Barry had known Wally since before he became Kid Flash. Barry had never been around kids much before he started dating Iris and had been introduced to her 5-year old nephew. Even then, Wally had admired the Flash. Iris already knew Barry's secret, and while they both wanted to tell Wally, they knew they couldn't. For the next five years, Barry grew to love Wally as a son, and when he married Iris, Wally was the ring bearer.

Barry knew that Wally was extremely smart, especially in science, and he fed that thirst for knowledge by bringing the boy in with him to the CCPD crime lab once a month so that Wally could see his uncle helping save lives. Wally soon grew to know every member of the forensics team, and they grew to like him as well. Wally's parents wouldn't let him skip a grade because he was already having troubles making friends, and they knew that skipping would only make it harder. With his classwork being so easy, Wally had been able to study higher level sciences with Barry, which only made the two grow closer.

Everything had been great, 11-year old Wally was a familiar face in the CCPD labs, and some of the regular police officers recognized him from when they had to delve into the labs for information. One fateful Friday night saw Wally and Barry restocking chemicals in the labs after a long day. It was storming out, and Barry wanted to finishing restocking the chemicals quickly because he didn't want to tempt the fates. The same chemicals were there that gave him his powers, and he just wanted to get Wally home so that he would be well rested for his birthday tomorrow. Barry was finally going to tell Wally his big secret, both he and Iris had agreed that he could be trusted not to tell anyone, and that he was responsible enough to not want to try to recreate the experiment that had given Barry his powers.

Unfortunately, lightning decided to strike for a second time, in the same place. Barry had been preparing himself to tell Wally the truth, and turned around for a few seconds to pull out the ring that held his costume to show Wally when he heard a strangled gasp of pain. In his panic, Barry sped over to Wally, completely disregarding the fact that he revealed his identity. It was too late, Wally was unconscious in a pool of chemicals. Barry called an ambulance because there was no way he would be able to make an excuse for the Flash to run Wally to the hospitable without revealing his identity.

Wally was in a coma for three months, during that time Flash sightings were at an all time low, but no one was suspicious. Through those long months, Wally was never alone, every police officer in Central City visited at least once every other week, and Rudy and Mary rarely left the hospitable room. Iris and Barry took as much paid vacation time as they could to visit Wally, but they had to go back to work eventually.

When Wally finally woke up, everyone was shocked. They were beginning to doubt if he was ever going to wake up. The shock of Wally waking up was quickly replaced with the even greater amount of disbelief that Wally had become a speedster. When Barry thought about it, it wasn't really all that much of a shock seeing as he had been in the exact situation years before.

Wally spent the next few weeks learning how to control his speed enough that he would be able to hide the fact that he was a speedster. Wally kept begging Barry to allow him to become the Flash's sidekick, but Barry refused. He saw a light innocence in Wally and wanted to preserve that light as much as possible, and even though Central City was safer than Gotham, it was still dangerous and Barry wanted to keep Wally as safe as possible.

It was inevitable that Wally would eventually become a hero. The transformation to a hero was realised when Wally saw the Flash fighting Captain Cold and saw that Cold was getting to put the Flash temporarily out of comission by freezing his legs, which would give the rogue a precious few seconds to escape with his newly stolen goods. Barry wasn't paying enough attention to Cold, and didn't see the icy blast headed his way, but Wally did. Wally had put on a modified version of the Flash suit, which was given to him in case of an emergency that led to him needing to use his powers, and got in between the blast and the Flash. Barry had knocked out Captain Cold, and had turned him into the police, before grabbing Wally and speeding him away. That night, Barry and Wally had come to an agreement that Wally could be Barry's sidekick, Kid Flash, so long as he was able to balance both of his lives as a civilian and as a hero. From that night on, Kid Flash could be seen fighting alongside the Flash, and Central City grew to love their resident teen hero.

As time went by, Barry watched as Wally grew into a talented and positive hero. Even though Wally remained slower than Barry, he made up for it by having a greater stamina, even though that meant that Wally's metabolism made him need to eat slightly more often than Barry did, Wally also became more creative and innovative when it came to different uses for his powers. It was a joy to spend time Wally both when in and out of costume. On the fateful Independence Day that resulted in the formation of a covert ops team, Barry found it difficult to remain mad at Wally for scaring him so much. After that, Barry spent as much time as he could with Wally, and learned what the team did in their free time. It was great that Wally finally had people other than Dick to talk to about his life as Kid Flash.

When Wally and Artemis decided to retire temporarily from the hero business, Barry was upset, but not surprised, he knew how much it meant to both of them to go to college and focus on learning what they could to be everyday heroes in civilian life so that they could spend as much time as possible helping people. He also recognised that they needed space from the team after Tula's tragic death. When Barry told his coworkers at the CCPD that Wally had moved out to Palo Alto to study Forensic Science, they said that they couldn't wait to have him work with them at the CCPD, and told him to pass along their congratulations to both Wally and Artemis.

A few months before Artemis's faked death, Barry had agreed to help Wally look for a ring. It meant a lot to Barry that Wally asked him to help instead of Dick, who had been friends with Wally for years. When Bart came to their time from the future, he knew that it hurt Wally to see a kid who was faster than him and had a seemingly better relationship with Barry than Wally did. TO Barry, Bart's arrival meant that he finally had an excuse to talk to Wally about an idea he had kept secret since Wally graduated from High School. Barry had decided that he would retire from being the Flash and would pass the mantle on to Wally, who had begun to outgrow the name of Kid Flash. Bart's arrival meant that Wally could have the assistance of a younger speedster if he needed it, he also knew that Wally wouldn't take on the mantle of thee Flash without there being a Kid Flash.

Weeks later, everything changed. Barry couldn't keep the desperation out of his voice as he told Bart to slow down so that they could save Wally from being attacked by the Chrysalis energy. His heart broke as he delivered Wally's last words to Artemis and took her to the West home. When he told Iris, he could barely keep himself together until he delivered the tragic message. When his wife heard the news, she broke down sobbing, she had held Wally when he was first born, and had always been his confidant when he was struggling with anything. The couple spent the next few weeks helping put the other back together. When the twins were born, they couldn't help but cry when they thought of how they had planned on asking Wally and Artemis to be godparents. They decided to ask Dick to be godfather in Wally's stead, because he had been Wally's best friend, and they knew that they could trust him to help Artemis take care of the twins in case anything happened to them. When they had asked Artemis to be godmother, none of them could stop the inevitable tears that would always come when Wally was mentioned. Neither Barry nor Iris missed the fact that Artemis wore what would have been her engagement ring on a silver chain that had an arrow charm, and a locket that had a picture of Wally and Artemis's New Years Kiss from all those years ago. It had been Wally's anniversary gift on the last anniversary they had before he died. Artemis had agreed to be godmother, and she always told the twins stories of their cousin Wally who they grew to know and love despite never getting to meet him.

When Barry told thee CCPD that Wally had died during the Breach invasion, the whole precinct mourned the loss of the cheerful redhead who had become like family to all of them. They kept the lab that he had been struck by lightning in as a memorial to the scientist who never got the opportunity to work where he had always dreamed of working.

In the days after the Reach Invasion, as Lex Luthor planned on taking credit for stopping the Reach invasion and G. Gordon Godfrey returned to bashing the Justice League on television, Barry decided that enough was enough. The Flash and the new, younger Kid Flash agreed to be interviewed by Lois Lane, who had taken to interviewing League members who had helped to stop the invasion to find out just what had happened that night. "This is Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, here in Central City with the Flash, and a new Kid Flash. Flash, before I ask about the recent invasion, please tell us why you have a new sidekick." "Ms. Lane, both of your questions have the same answer. The first Kid Flash and his partner Artemis decided to come out of retirement to help us put an end to thee Reach Invasion, during that time, Kid told the new speedster Impulse that he would be giving the younger man the mantle of Kid Flash as he wasn't planning on coming out of retirement any time soon. Kid Flash and Artemis dismantled the MFD in Paris, and Kid Flash joined myself and Impulse in the Arctic to help stop the MFD that had gone Chrysalis. Kid Flash joined us in running opposite to the direction of the energy to siphon it off before it could destroy all of us. Kid's slower speed made him an exit valve for escaping energy, and the energy attacking him killed him. He vanished right in front of me. It was his sacrifice that saved all of us. He didn't have to come out of retirement, and he didn't have to join Impulse and I in the Arctic. He was a true hero. Thanks Ms. Lane, but the second Kid Flash and I need to go." "Of course Flash, thank you for agreeing to this interview. I can't speak for everyone, but I for one certainly won't forget his sacrifice." Lois had tears running down her cheek. "That was the Flash recounting the brave sacrifice that Kid Flash made to save all of us. The emotion on his face convinced me that what he told me was true. No one would make up something like that up. This has been Lois Lane of the Daily Planet reporting live from Central City." With that, Barry and Bart sped off back to the Allen home to continue mourning.

The funeral for Wally was packed, the entire CCPD showed up along with Wally's friends and family, both civilians and heroes in their civilian identities. The funeral was full of sad laughter as everyone shared memories of Wally, from when he met Barry or visited the CCPD, to his crazy exploits in school, to times that he was a listening ear and managed to always find a way to cheer people up no matter the circumstances. There was no dry eye when the service ended.

The funeral for Kid Flash was held outside of the Flash museum. Central City shut down for the day, and every resident of the city attended, the rogues even declared that all crime in the city would halt for a week, they wouldn't even allow crimes to be planned. The entirety of the Justice League showed up for at least part of the service before they were forced to leave due to some crisis or another either across the world or in their respective cities. Even Queen Perdita of Vlatava showed up to honor the man who saved her life, she declared Kid Flash a knight of Vlatava posthumously, and declared the day of his death a national Vlatavan holiday to remember the cheerful hero. Central City honored Kid Flash by opening up a new wing of the Flash museum dedicated entirely to the teen speedster who had managed to find a place in all of their hearts. G Gordon Godfrey never spoke negatively about the first Kid Flash after his heroism was revealed, although he never ceased to verbally attack the rest of the superhero world.

Barry never forgot his nephew, and when he finally retired and passed the mantle of the Flash on to Bart, he felt bittersweet. He had always hoped that it would be Wally he passed the mantle to, and that it would be Wally to pass the mantle on to Bart. Unfortunately, people die before their time, nothing would ever stop that. The only way that they live on is to keep them in your memories, and that is what Barry did. Wally never left his memories, and he never would.

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to add another new chapter. The thing is, I publish a chapter as soon as it is finished, and then move on to writing the next chapter resulting in sporadic updates. Thanks so much for reading this, it means a lot. Up next is Bart. To those who asked for me to write about Dick, don't worry, his chapter is coming up soon. I hope this made you cry, I had a hard time not crying as I wrote it. To those of you who want to yell at me and tell me that in the Young Justice universe, Wally didn't get his powers the same way Barry did, and that he recreated the experiment in his garage. I know, I love how that version of events highlighted Wally's intelligence, I just preferred this origin for Wally as it added to him being close to the people Barry worked with. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and that you leave me a review letting me know what you thought. To those of you who also read Fighting Blind, I am in the middle of writing the next chapter, and I hope to get it up before the end of the month. Thanks again for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3: Bart

**A/N: Sorry that this has taken so long to write. I lost inspiration for a while and it finally returned. I know that many people are still waiting for Fighting Blind to update, and please take into consideration that that story requires me to follow the episodes closely to allow the story to become how I envision it. For this chapter of Memories, I ask that you please recognize that this was a difficult chapter to write, as not much is revealed about Bart's past before he time traveled, so his entire backstory in this is purely speculation on my part and has been made rather tragic to allow Wally to have a greater impact on Bart's life. Please let me know what you think in a review or in a PM. If you have any requests for characters reactions to add to this later on, please let me know. If someone wants me to post a list of who I have planned to add on later, please let me know in a PM, and I will send you the list barring an addition that I plan on keeping as a surprise until the end unless they are asked for in a review, If over five people ask for the list in either a review or in a PM, I will add it to my profile. Now, please sit back, relax, listen to the music of your choice, and enjoy the next installment of Memories.**

Bart

Bart was from the future, that was common knowledge. It was also fairly common knowledge that he came to the past to stop the Reach invasion, what wasn't as well known was that he had another motive, to save his grandfather's life. In Bart's time, his dad and aunt were dead, they died when Bart was only 7 years old because the Reach found them. They had gone into hiding shortly after Barry died, and Bart's birth was the result of an unplanned pregnancy, and his mother died in childbirth. The Reach had hunted down all meta humans that they could find to either kill them or to study them, the only metas who were even remotely safe were those in hiding, or those with a 'useful' meta-gene and were placed into labor camps.

Growing up, Bart never knew his grandparents, as Iris Allen was murdered during the climax of the Reach invasion along with the majority of the Justice League; only the Bat clan survived that attack, and that was because they were dealing with the appearance of the Red Hood, and were slowly welcoming him back into the life of a hero. Don, Bart's dad, and Don's twin sister Dawn had been practically raised by Wally, as he had been named their godfather on the day they were born. For the first 7 years of his life, Bart didn't see much of Wally, as he was running the underground resistance, and was working closely with Dick, who had taken up the honorary mantle of Batman when Bruce retired despite there being no need for Batman as a crime fighter, the two friends were working closely with Nathaniel Tryon to find a way to stop the Reach invasion.

After Don and Dawn died, Wally filled in as Bart's father and mentor. Despite being 41 when Bart was born, the Speed Force slowed Wally's age, so that he was in his late twenties physically. It was Wally who taught Bart how to safely use his powers, and Wally who told him about the heroes of the Justice League who defended the Earth before the Reach. It was Wally who answered all of Bart's questions about his family, and Wally who taught him the most important thing, how to be a hero.

When Wally and Bart had been captured by the Reach, only days after Bart turned 13, he thought it was the end. They had been put into the labor force, and they worked in the factory that made the inhibitor collars that all captured metas were forced to wear. A month passed, and it slowly became clear that the speedsters could not survive long with the lack of proper food combined with the hyper-enhanced metabolism that no inhibitor collar could ever suppress. Wally suffered the most, because his reliance on the Speed Force was so immense, it came from the fact that the Speed Force was the only thing keeping Wally's disease at bay. Wally had been captured when the League had been destroyed, having taken on the mantle of the Flash from his late uncle. During his time in captivity, the Reach had injected him with a poison that would slowly eat away at Wally's body. The Speed Force fought the poison, but at the cost of Wally needing to take nutrient supplements daily, and needing to eat more. Needless to say, but when they were captured, Wally was barely holding on.

After another month passed, Bart noticed how Wally slipped into a light doze whenever he wasn't focussing on staying awake to complete a task, as soon as he lost focus, he dozed off. Bart's hope was slipping away day by day. Finally, a guard who owed the Bat family his life slipped them a note from the outside.

 _Dear Wally and Bart,_

 _Don't worry, this guard is trustworthy. We have a plan, just hold out for another two day and you will be home safe and sound. The guard who gave you this note will cause a distraction at a predetermined time, and J will be there to break you out. Please hang in there, I'll see you soon._

 _B_

The note from Dick was the only thing that kept them going for the next two days.

On the day of the breakout, disaster struck. The guard's head had been found mounted on top of the twenty foot gate that surrounded the factory. "Bart," Wally's voice was soft and gravelly, nothing like the voice that had lit up Bart's childhood. "Bart, I need you to listen to me. When I tell you, I need you to run, run faster than you ever have before. J will be at the exit, I need you to go with him and make sure you tell our people what happened." "What about you, you can tell them yourself when we get out of here. I won't leave you! I won't let my only family left die!" "BART! LISTEN TO ME!" Bart's mouth snapped shut, all protests died in his lips. Wally had never yelled at him before, not like that. Wally's voice was filled with desperation, something that Bart never would have imagined coming from his mentor's mouth. "Listen to me, you will be the only one escaping today. I don't want to hear you say anything. We both know that I'm not strong enough to escape, the poison has been spreading despite the Speed Force trying to save me. Nathaniel has a plan to fix this, and if it succeeds, then all the tragedies that the Reach has caused will never have existed. Listen to what I am about to say, and never forget it. These are my last words of advice to you. Nathaniel and the Bats have been building a time machine, you are the only person who can use it to stop this life from ever occurring. You can go back to stop the Reach, you can even go back and save Barry. If our calculations are correct, then this timeline will still exist, but you will create an alternate timeline, one where this suffering will never occur. It won't affect your existence at all, or ours, but you can ensure that there is a timeline out there where the invasion never leads to this. I'm counting on you Bart. Don't forget this timeline, but enjoy the new one that you will experience, live a happy life, and smile. My only regrets are that I wasn't there to save Barry, or Iris, or Artemis, and that you were never given many opportunities to smile. So, Bart, save them and smile. Live a happy life, and never forget any of us."

With that, Wally ran off away from the exit route, and proceeded to draw every guard after him as he attempted to free himself and others, while fighting as many as he could. Bart could only watch helplessly as the guards began to fight back, calling for reinforcements, and shooting at Wally. Bart saw Wally mouthing 'I love you' to Bart as he was gunned down. The image of Wally's smile as he mouthed those words would be burned into Bart's brain for the rest of his life.

With tears rushing down his face, Bart ran towards the exit. J was waiting there for him. "Where's Wally? Kid, where is he?" Bart could only cry even harder and shake his head. With a muttered, "Shit", J grabbed key from his belt, and took the inhibitor collar off. "Come on kid, let's get you far away from here" And they ran, they ran for miles until J led Bart into a hidden sewer entrance, and they made it down into the underground bunker where the resistance operated. Bart had not stopped crying since he escaped, J took the kid to the infirmary, put him on a bed and hooked him up to an IV that had been made with speedsters in mind, and left to tell Dick what had happened.

The next day, Bart was led into a room full of candles. At the base of the candles were plaques that had a name on them. Each candle represented those who died, the candles were left to the deceased's closest family member or friend to light. It was the only way they could honor the dead without holding a funeral, a ceremony that was considered too dangerous to even consider. It was left to Bart to light Wally's candle. The light from the candle seemed to shine brighter than the sun, and when Bart looked at it, he could see the light that seemed to have always surrounded Wally when he was alive.

Bart had never felt more helpless, but he held Wally's final words close to his heart, and he put on a smile, and threw himself into working with Nathaniel to finish the time machine so that he could go back and save his family. Wally had wanted him to go back to save Barry and stop the Reach, and that's what Bart wanted to do too, but when he really considered his purpose for traveling back in time, he couldn't see any reason than to give Wally the happy ending he deserved.

With his purpose in mind, Bart and Nathaniel finished the time machine in a month. Before Bart left, he met with Dick, the only connection Bart had to his family now that Wally was dead. "It's finished isn't it Bart. You're leaving soon?" "Yeah Dick, it's finished. After I leave, light my candle. There is no way I will be able to come back, and I'm not sure if I'll want to. Everything I see reminds me of him, or any member of my family. I can't stand it." "Of course, I'll have Nathaniel light it, I know that you two have become close." "Thanks" "Bart, before you go, remember that Wally would hate to see you so depressed, I know that's a low blow, but I think that it would make him happy to see you be happy over there. Stay safe, ok." Bart could only nod, and he sped off.

Bart was able to travel back with no problem, and was welcomed more warmly than he expected. When he went to save his grandfather, it was jarring to see Wally looking healthy and happy, albeit younger than he remembered. What was shocking though, was Wally's cold reception to him. Bart had to admit, that hurt a lot, especially since Wally had been like a father to Bart in the alternate timeline.

As time passes, and Bart became better acquainted with Wally, the two began to grow closer, and they began to spend more and more time together after Artemis's faked death. Bart had always heard whispers about how terrible it was when Wally found out that Artemis and Aqualad had had their covers blown and had been executed, but Bart had a feeling that that the two undercover agents would end up back into the arms of their friends and families safely when this was all resolved. Wally spent time helping Bart familiarize himself with his new life, and offered him tips on how to operate on the team and as Impulse. Bart was also able to befriend Blue Beetle, and help him break away from the Reach's control, hopefully saving the future.

Before the Chrysalis mission, Bart was overjoyed when Wally declared that Bart would make a good Kid Flash, and Bart hoped so too, because he had hoped that he would be able to take on that mantle and eventually work as Wally's partner when he inevitably took over the mantle of the Flash from Barry.

Then everything went wrong, Bart and Barry discovered a MFD gone Chrysalis in the Arctic. As the two speedsters gave it their all running opposite the direction of the Chrysalis, Bart knew in his heart that there was no way they could beat the Reach technology without a sacrifice. When Wally joined them, Bart allowed his hope to grow. Wally was there, and he had never let Bart down before. But that hope died when he heard Barry say, "Bart, we need to slow down and siphon off the energy attacking Wally." Bart couldn't hear what Wally said to Barry, but he knew it was bad as he saw his grandfather's face slide into despair. Bart could feel his expression change as he watched Wally die in front of him. For a second time in less than a year, Bart had watched his mentor, his big brother, his father figure died in front of him, and he could do nothing to stop it. Bart had done what Wally asked, and had saved Barry, but he hadn't kept the promise he made to himself, his promise to save Wally.

He had failed, but he had to keep smiling, and make sure to take care of Barry, Iris, and Artemis in Wally's stead. As time passed, Bart adjusted to living without Wally, and he never told anyone about the future that he had come from, because he had succeeded in the main part of his mission, making sure that there was a timeline where fewer people died. He enjoyed being Kid Flash, and slowly but surely felt less and less of an imposter in Wally's old Kid Flash uniform, but every time he ran with the Flash, he couldn't help but think about what it would have been like if Wally was in the red suit instead of Barry.

This timeline was saved, but Bart was slowly drowning in his grief, but no one saw through the smiles that he showed the world. No one saw through the masks that he wore until he met Linda. Linda was a reporter who worked under Iris for a time near the end of Iris's career, and she was the first person who saw the despair that Bart kept close to his heart. She slowly peeled back the masks, and helped Bart put his life back together. They never married, they didn't marry each other or another person, they were closer than anything, but they were never romantically attracted to each other. They did move in together after college, but they were more like siblings than anything else. Linda was there to help Bart keep smiling, and she helped his smiles become more and more genuine.

Linda could never replace Wally, though, and Bart never forgot his mentor. Whenever he ran, he could see the light of Wally's memorial candle, hear the sound of Wally's laugh that was so cheerful that it chased all traces of despair away, and he could feel the warmth of Wally's embrace, comforting him and lifting him up through anything. In his room, Bart had a candle that was always lit, and at it's base was a plaque that read, _'Wally West, the man who ran to save the world with a smile on his face. His memory will never be forgotten.'_

 **A/N: Wow, that was more depressing than I had anticipated, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to update sooner. I'd love to know what you think. Please don't hate me for bringing Linda in, I think that she is an important character who deserves some attention, and I wanted to bring her in at some point, because in the comics she usually ends up with Wally. I wanted to pay homage to that, but I couldn't bring myself to write her as being a love interest to Bart. I you like the idea of her and Bart being together, then by all means picture them in a romantic relationship, it wouldn't change the message of this chapter all that much if they were in a relationship. Please leave a review, and let me know if you think I made a good call in not having Bart and Linda in a romantic relationship, or if you think that they should have been romantically involved. I'd love to see what you think. I'd also like to know if you figured out who J was, I think that it's fairly easy to figure out, but I'd still like to know what you think. Thanks for reading this. Bye!**


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